


How to care for your Alien Hedgehog Son

by SourSugarCube



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Genre: Family Dynamics, New tags to be added, Tom gets all of his parenting from hedgehog care guides and animal planet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22853647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SourSugarCube/pseuds/SourSugarCube
Summary: Tom and Maddie struggle to understand how to take care of a mobian hedgehog but they try their best, though maybe they should take less advice from Hedgehog Care Guides.OrEvery chapter is based on real hedgehog facts/behaviors.
Relationships: Maddie Wachowski/Tom Wachowski
Comments: 34
Kudos: 521





	1. Chapter 1

Hedgehogs recognize people by smell. Try putting an old t-shirt in their cage to help them get more comfortable with you.

They were putting together Sonics new room. Hanging up speed limit signs Sonic had stolen, putting comic books and elementary textbooks he had gotten a hold of in an actual book shelf, and wondering if they should just replace his beanbag chair with one that wasn’t about to fall apart.

“After.” Maddie had said, “We’ll talk to him about getting a new one AFTER he sees that everything's here.”

Maddie was currently stringing up some fairy lights while Tom was putting together the bed. Though she had some concerns about one of his choices.

“Tom, are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“It’s what the guide book said, and he’s so use to being around us, but not actually near us.” Tom defended, while he folded one of his most well worn t-shirts, and carefully stuffed it into the pillowcase before placing it back on Sonic’s new bed.

“Ok fine, but don’t even think about putting my dirty socks in his sheets or whatever. He may be a hedgehog, but I think he can get comfortable being around us just fine without constantly smelling dirty laundry.”

“Just you wait,” Tom teased, overly confidently standing up and giving Maddie a smug look. “When he decides he’d rather go fishing with me rather then doing yoga with you, you’ll be stuffing your socks in that bean bag.“

Later that night, Sonic was exhausted. It had been a long day, emotionally wise, and here he was, about to fall asleep in their home for the first time. Well, the first time they were aware of it. He’d snuck into their attic before when it was snowing or raining, and water started filling up his cave. But it wasn’t nearly as warm then, and wasn’t half as comfortable knowing you could get caught any second.

Sonic could finally just, truly relax.  
...  
...  
...  
*sniff*  
...  
*sniff sniff*  
...  
...  
...  
“Ok what the-“ Sonic sat up and started rubbing his nose, what WAS that. Eww! It smelled like two month old ham sandwich, onion, and just gross!

Sonic followed his nose to find the source of the offensive oder, and was shocked to find it was his own pillow. Or more accurately what was inside of his pillow.

Sonic pinched his fingers around a gross t-shirt while pulling it out. A warped picture of Mickey Mouse half scrubbed away. WHY??

Maddie and Tom we’re finishing up the when groggy foot steps coming down the stairs caught their attention. 

“Hey!” Sonic called, holding up the crumpled shirt.

“Why? Just why? Is this a human thing I don’t know about?”

Maddie was still turned towards the sink, but her shoulders were shaking from laughter.  
  
Sonic turned toward Tom, a look of bewilderment plastered to his face. 

“Sorry, uh. It was a mistake. I was reading a thing and it said-“

Sonic tossed the crumpled up shirt at him, before zipping back up the steps. 

Maddie finally letter her laugher take  
full effect and had to hold the sink for support. 

“So should we try my socks next?” She weazed, continuing to laugh and Tom couldn’t help but join in.


	2. Chapter 2

In the wild, some species of hedgehogs go into Hibernation when the weather is too cold, and others practice Estivation when the weather is too hot.

Hedgehogs in captivity who attempt either of the two are in extreme danger for wasting away, so do your best to keep the environment controlled.

Part 1: Hibernation 

Snow had been dropping here and there for the past few days, but hadn’t been enough to stick to the ground. 

Last night however, had been a different story. A practical blizzard had washed over green hills and the winter wonderland it left behind had been glorious. 

Everything glistening and glittering in the early dawn has the sleepiness torn away from Tom out of excitement. He had always loved the snow, But now he had a new reason for being overjoyed on such a beautiful morning, Sonic. 

Tom woke the confused hedgehog early, made him get dressed in his child sized parka and pants, and pushed him out the door. 

Sonic had experienced snow before, but when he tried to tell Tom, he wouldn’t hear it.

They had snow ball fights, a first for Sonic he admitted, “Well, with more then me.” They made snow angels, and they had a snowman making competition with Maddie when she woke up. 

The day was fast and full of energized, frozen fun, and when the sun began going down, they called it a day. 

They curled around the couch, had hot chocolate, (“NO MILK.” Maddie had reminded him, hedgehogs couldn’t digest dairy.) ate hot chili, with sliced up hotdogs added to Sonic’s bowl, all while watching “Jingle All The Way.” 

About half way through the movie Sonic started shifting uncomfortably, burrowing himself into Tom’s side, tugging the shared blanket closer to himself.

“You alright there bud?” Tom questioned, chuckling slightly to Sonic snuggling his face into his ribs.

“Cold.” He muffled against Toms shirt. 

Tom wrapped his arm around the hedgehog and started absentmindedly running his hand up and down Sonics arm.

“Wow, you really-Ok! More hot chocolate for you. I prescribe it!” 

Tom awkwardly wiggles himself out of the nest the three made, and felt a sight pang of jealousy when Sonic immediately pinned himself to Maddie, stealing all of the residual warmth Tom left behind and cocooned himself in Tom’s abandoned share of blankets. 

Tom came back with a extra fluffy quilt Ms. Willow had given to him after he got her cat out of that tree. Along with a hot chocolate he had put in a desposible coffee cup rather then a mug to prevent the shivering hedgehog from spilling.

Sonic graciously accepted the new covers and curled himself around the cup, slowly sipping it.

Maddie carefully ran her fingers through Sonics quills.

“Maybe we went a little hard today, though how about a hot shower before you go to bed?”

Sonic huffed, nose hidden under the quilt,  
“I hate water.” 

He snuggled closer to Maddie as Tom wiggles himself back under the covers, this time with Sonic between the pair. 

By the time the movie had ended, Sonic was fast asleep, breathing soft and slow.

Tom carried the sleeping hedgehog upstairs and tucked him in, not paying to much mind to how Sonic subconsciously pulled the covers over his head before heading back downstairs.  
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —  
“MORNIN’ BUD!” Tom sang as he jumped up the ladder steps. He got a kick out of surprising the hedgehog in the morning, due to his reaction always being different.

Sometimes he jumps in surprise, sometimes he darts past him before he already finished the first word to collect breakfast, and sometimes he got a face full of pillow. 

Once, he was unlucky and there was a quill lodged in it.

This however was different. Sonic remained curled around himself, blankets still completely incapsulating him. 

They didn’t look like they had moved all night.

Tom climbed the rest of the way up and crouched next to the race car bed.

“Hey munchkin, it’s breakfast time.” There was nothing. Not a ruffle of fabric, or a slight stretch.

“Kid?...” The idea that Sonic had snuck out and put a basketball in his place crossed Toms mind, though why Sonic would do that made no since. 

Tom thought back too when he was a stubborn kid and his parents would pull the blankets off his bed to get him up. So with one flick of the wrist, Tom yanked all the sheets over the hedgehog.

It was Sonic alright.

And something was very very not alright.

Sonics body was stiff, though his quills were relaxed. His face and nose were exposed but arms, belly, and legs were hidden, having been pulled into his ball form.

Panic shot through Tom from his heart to his stomach and back again. 

“MADDIE!!”  
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —  
The car ride to the vet clinic was excruciatingly slow, and every honk of a tractor made in hello to the sheriff only managed to deepen Toms worry, do to Sonic’s ears not even so much as twitching from the noise. 

He often teased the hedgehog for his ears swiveling back and forth due to the slightest sound, but now there was nothing.

Maddie was in the back seat with Sonic, trying to check his pulse, but Sonic wasn’t budging his head to let Maddie get to the pulse point on his neck. 

The clinic wasn’t open on Sunday’s and Maddie was thankful for that, the last thing she wanted right now was her co-workers prying eyes.

Every test came back normal, except for the blood pressure and heart rate. Which were normal for human, but when Sonics normal heart rate was like a bullet train, it was unnerving. 

Tom held him the whole time, and the whole time he kept trying to wake the hedgehog, but not even the smelling salts would work. 

Maddie was at a loss, and she couldn’t help but feel helpless. 

“Tom.” She cooed, heart breaking while her husband was once again cradling an unconscious Sonic. 

Toms eyes were blood shot, and she knew hers were as well, everything had seemed so perfect yesterday, and now it was crumbling in their hands. Maddie gulped.

“I...I don’t know what’s wrong with him. I hate this just as much as you do, but we may have to call in some...governmental help on this one.” Tom pulled Sonic closer to himself. 

“This is all my fault.” Tom choked. 

“Hey!” Maddie barked, “Shut up. No it’s not, we don’t even know what “This” is. It could be completely normal, or some alien flu.”

“What if he’s allergic to chocolate.” Tom whimpered, “Maddie, what if I poisoned him. What if he’s not supposed to eat sugar or chocolate? He was so slow after the first cup, and just got slower after the second one.”

Maddie thought about it. He wasn’t wrong.  
That had been the first time Sonic ever had hot chocolate, and she couldn’t remember ever seeing him eat candy. She wanted to put Toms mind at rest, but she was willing to take any leads as to what was wrong with Sonic that she could get.

“Then...then we now know in the future. Though, he’s not showing any signs of vomiting, or-“

“He was shaking.” Tom muttered. “That’s a sign of theobromine poisonings right? When Ozzie got into that box of chocolate donuts and you gave him charcoal. You checked if he had internal bleeding when he threw up.” Tom’s ran a hand through Sonics relaxed quills. The contrast between that and his stiff muscle was terrifying.

“He keep shaking, we thought he was cold. I just gave him more.”

“We had no way of knowing-“ Maddie froze. 

Cold

He was cold.

Got slower.

Lower heart rate and blood pressure. 

Curled up.

“I got it!” Maddie shouted, racing out of the room at her own super sonic speed. Leaving a confused but somewhat hopeful Tom in her wake.

Maddie came back with three hot water bottles and several blankets. She ordered Tom to wrap them around Sonic and readied an I.V.

“The snow. He was playing in the snow all day. Tom, he’s in hibernation!” 

A weight had been lifted off of Tom chest. 

“You think! Then he’ll be ok right?!”

“Woah slow down,we aren’t out of the woods. Turtles, hedgehogs, pets that hibernate should never do so if they are a pet. It’s extremely dangerous. Though mostly because they could starve or atrophy I think.”

She had some trouble, but finally found a spot to put the IV in.

“Fluids will help, but he needs to be warmed up. I need him to wake up at least a little, he might have hypothermia but I can’t really test it with him like this.”

Sonic was wrapped, and surrounded by more blankets and hot water bottles, though Maddie had to keep Tom from going over board or else Sonic could get heat stroke while in hibernation.

Then they waited.

And waited.

And waited. 

Six hours they waited, and Maddie was getting prepared to call the government guy who gave them the Olive Garden gift card. Going so far as it type in his number and just stare at it. 

What if she was wrong? What if they were doing the exact wrong thing? But who’s to say they would know any better?

“Maddie!” Tom shouted for the second time that day, and Maddie nearly dropped her phone. 

Maddie jogged over, to meet the very sleepy eyes of a very sleepy hedgehog.

“Ugh...” Was all he could say, and it was more then enough to bring Maddie to tears.

He was ok. Well, ok might be a bit of a stretch, but he was awake and that was a start.  
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —  
Four hours later Maddie let them all go home. Sonic wrapped up like a burrito, “Who needs extra guac.” The hedgehog joked sluggishly before repeating the word burrito over and over again on the ride home.

Space heaters were set up in Sonic’s room and over the next few days the Mobian slowly got back to his old self, though he wouldn’t be allowed to make a snow man anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Source for this chapter: Millermeade Farms: Hedgehogs Headquarters.


	3. Chapter 3

While Badgers are a hedgehogs main predator, foxes are still one of their larger threats.  
They are often discouraged from attacking due to the quills of an adult hedgehog, but young hedgehogs are at a much greater risk.

Tom, Maddie, Sonic, and Tails were all sitting around the breakfast table. Munching happily on bowls of sugary cereal and orange juice. 

“So,” Tom gestured with his spoon towards Sonic and Tails. “I have a question.”

Sonic didn’t look up from his Lucky Charms, concentrating on getting each type of marshmallow on the spoon at once. Tails looked up though, ears perking. He liked questions Tom had learned, and he did feel a little bad about bring it up, but he felt like he had to know. 

“Shoot.” Sonic said, eyes still glued to his bowl, Maddie casually watching the conversation. 

“So, I know that you guys aren’t like the animals on earth, but there so many similarities, so I gotta ask. Don’t foxes eat hedgehogs?”

All chewing stopped. 

Maddie looked at Tom like that time he called her sister a cow when she dressed in black and white polka dots. 

Sonic looked up and turned towards Tails, and Tails looked like he was about to start sweating if he could. 

“I-I mean…technically speaking…yes, BUT IVE NEVER PERSONALLY,” Tails insisted, waving his hands in front of him. “Things on Mobius are different them earth. I knew this kid, he was a fox too, I remember him talking about how his parents were teaching him how even though h-hed-d-gehogs tasted good, they were difficult to catch due to their quills.”

Tails looked about 30 seconds away from a nervous breakdown, his ears flat on his head, holding his tails like a security blanket, while fearfully staring up at Tom and Maddie’s horrified faces.

The sound of crunching is heard, Sonic had gone back to eating. 

“It’s cool guys, things really were different on Mobius. My mom was an owl for crying out loud, and predators gotta eat too,” Sonic placed a hand on Tails shoulder, his thumb rolling in soothing circles to try and get him to calm down. “When she first found me, I was supposed to be her dinner, all small and soft quilled. Though, I was too fast, I kept teasing her, and once you start talking to someone, they stop looking like a meal. That’s how she took me in.”

Tom and Maddie were speechless. A planet where animals were people, but still ate each other like animals. 

Maddie shifted uncomfortably

“Did you ever see her…eat?” 

Sonic shoved a spoon of Lucky Charms into his mouth, then looked off into space for a moment, remembering back. He never really spent that much time thinking about it, and he wondered if there was something he might had misinterpreted as a small kid, but understood now.

Sonic swallowed, “No, not really. I knew that she liked mice the best, and that there was a village between these two cliffs that had a bunch of people...I think she told me that she usually waited until one of them wondered off...but I never saw anything.”

Maddie didn’t think her eyes could get any wider, If Toms mouth could drop any lower, or that Tails ears could get any flatter.  


Tom, Maddie, and a second-hand guilty Tails had lost their appetites.


	4. Chapter 4

Hedgehogs have a very high tolerance for toxins, poisons, and pollutants. They will often even seek out cigarette butts and turpentine to chew up, and cover their quills in.  
——————————————————————————

It was awful. Absolutely horrible. 

The bottle of Raid, hidden in the corner of the cabinet under the sink. Sonic couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

The smell made the back of his throat burn, his eyes sting, and he watched as the poor cockroach didn’t stand a chance. 

Maddie had moved Ozzie into another room, and ordered him to stay away from where she had sprayed. 

But...

HE NEEDED IT.

Every instinct was screaming at him to take the stuff and scrub it deep into his quills like a good conditioner. 

Sonic waited, and waited, for the perfect opportunity.  
—————————————————————————————  
“FINALLY!” Sonic groaned when Maddie stepped out onto the porch for an afternoon yoga session. 

Quickly, but not super speed quickly in case she got suspicious, the hedgehog dashed for the cabinet and snatched the spray bottle before hurrying up the stairs to the upstairs bathtub. 

Sonic took off his shoes and gloves, closed the shower curtain, plugged the tub, and proceeded to drench his quills in the poison. 

It was like scratching an itch, an instinctual impulse that helped his ancestors kill off parasites and warn off predators. 

When the bottle was used up, he began dipping his claws in the toxin.

He was so focused, he didn’t even hear the door open as Tom and Tails got home.

“Oh ugh!” Tom winced at the chemical spell, Tails whined that started burying his nose in his gloves.

The fox darted through through the living room and kitchen like his life depended on it. Sneezing and wheezing out the back door where Maddie was.

Tom coughed while putting away his things. “Ugh, what kind of mutant roach must there have been. Oh god...”

The back door opened and Maddie instantly recoiled, Tails refused to come inside. “Ugh, Tom! What did you do?”

“ME? I came home to this.” Tom covered his face with his shirt, checking under the sink to see if the can exploded. “Ugh, *cough* Where Sonic?“

“I don’t know, upstairs?” Maddie sniffled, opening the windows to air the place out.

“Dude better-ACCHHOO-have a reason-AAACC-“ the heavy sound of a metal can dropping reverberated off the tub and sounded through the house, alerting the adults.

The pair rushed up the stairs and Sonic couldn’t have cared less when the shower curtain opened to a furious Tom and Maddie.

“Oh my-“ 

“DUDE!”

Sonic froze and stared at them for a second, before proceeding to curl up in a ball to soak up what remained of the liquid in the tub.

“SONIC!!!!”  
—————————————————————————————  
Sonic huffed and puffed, arms crossed, and quills annoyingly non-toxic as Tom sprayed him with the hose in the front yard. 

After four solid hours of hosing, shampooing, hosing again, and more shampooing. The hedgehog was finally Raid free.

Tom turned off the hose and tossed a new towel to the miffed hedgehog.

“You just HAD to turn into a stink bomb?” Tom whined for the thousandth time. 

“I just had to....It felt right...And it’s helped before! No mosquitoes dare get ya when your covered in bug spray.”

“There a difference between putting on bug spray, and SWIMMING in it. This isn’t even the stuff you use anyhow.”

“Still felt good...”

“Well you can explain that to Tails. He’s still refusing to come inside.”

Sonic winched at that, feeling bad for being the reason the fox was in such discomfort.

“He’s ok though, right?” Sonic asked.

“He’s fine, but their both sleeping in the garage tonight with Ozzie.”

Tom sighed, rubbing the bridge of this nose.

”Look, kid. I know why you did it. Or, well, ok I know it’s something hedgehogs just DO. Like, normal animal scientists don’t even know why they do it, just that they do. If it’s a predator thing...Well your safe here, and you don’t need to worry about predators. Actually,” Tom grabbed the now wet towel away from Sonic. “The predators have to worry about YOU.”

Sonic looked over where Maddie was carrying blankets and pillows out to the garage.

“...I’m sorry.” Sonic said. “I’ve never needed to worry about how what I did, did to others. It’s so hard to keep from just DOING something.

“Which is why we are now locking all the cabinets. That’s right Bud, if you so much as want BBQ chips, ya gotta ask.”

“Oh Come ON!” 


End file.
